Posts Tagged ‘“Taxi”’

The Archive recently had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Mr. Danny Devito. Interviewer Amy Harrington of the Pop Culture Passionistas shares a few thoughts about the experience:

I knew that Danny DeVito was a great actor when I signed up to interview him for the Archive of American Television. After all I’d been watching him since I was a little kid and he was the dastardly Louie DePalma on Taxi. And I grew to admire him over the years for his roles in films like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Throw Mama from the Train,” the latter of which he also directed.

But it wasn’t until about two-thirds of the way through my sit down with the Emmy-award winning actor that I got a first hand glimpse of his incomparable talent. DeVito was discussing his role on the edgy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In the course of his response he started to talk about his time in Vietnam.

My mind frantically rifled through his resume for the period in his life when DeVito had served in the military — wondering how I’d missed his turn in the Armed Forces. That’s when I realized I was no longer talking to Hollywood’s Danny DeVito, I was speaking with Sunny’s Frank Reynolds.

At that moment I looked into the eyes of the character, not the actor, and noticed an oh-so-subtle but undeniably present shift. DeVito had disappeared and Reynolds sat there in his place.

Luckily Danny came back for the follow-up question and I was back on track. But I’ll never forget that moment of pure, unadulterated talent staring me in the eyes.

Burrows stated that one of the biggest laughs he’s ever seen on television occurred when he was directing Friends:

Watch James Burrows’ full interview here to hear his tales of Taxi, Cheers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and other TV favorites.

About this interview:

In his three-and-a-half hour Archive interview, James Burrows discusses his early years working as a stage manger under his father, playwright/director Abe Burrows, and outlines his years directing for the stage in regional theater. He recalls his break into television directing, working at MTM Productions on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and describes directing Fay, The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, and Phyllis. He details working with the cast and creative team behind Taxi, and directing the majority of the series’ episodes. Burrows chronicles the eleven-year run of Cheers, which he co-created with Glen & Les Charles, and for which he directed nearly every episode. As one of the pre-eminent directors of sitcom pilots, Burrows shares what he looks for in selecting a pilot and explains what drew him to directing the pilot episodes of Night Court, NewsRadio, and 3rd Rock From the Sun. He talks of working on the early seasons of Frasier, Friends, and Caroline in the City, and speaks of the joy of being the sole director of the hit series, Will & Grace. Gary Rutkowski conducted the interview on December 17, 2003 in Los Angeles, CA.